February 5, 2012: I-40 REOPENS! 1 of 2 lanes remains closed near Exit 451 (Waterville Road) in Tennessee for maintenance following the rock slide.
February 3, 2012
Officials announce this morning that one lane could reopen as early as Monday. However, there was another rock slide nearby a few hours later in the westbound lanes. So the eastbound lanes are still open.
January 31, 2012
This morning a rock slide occurred on the Tennessee side of Interstate 40 near the North Carolina state line. Currently the interstate is closed westbound at Exit 20 in North Carolina. Drivers who are taking the highway through to Tennessee are being directed to detour onto Interstate 26 in Asheville. The eastbound lanes are open for now (traveling into NC from TN), but they may be closed at times for clean-up of the rock slide.
All western North Carolina attractions such as Asheville, Cherokee, Waynesville, Maggie Valley and North Carolina sections of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are accessible via Interstate 40 west without taking a detour - unless you are traveling I-40 from Tennessee.
For information on current road conditions, visitors should check the North Carolina Department of Transportation Traveler Information Management System website at www.ncdot.gov/traffictravel/ or call 511, the state’s free travel information line. NCDOT information can also be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ncdot.
- Update from Lynn D. Minges, Assistant Secretary for Tourism, Marketing, and Global Branding, North Carolina Department of Commerce
